California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 223

Introduced by Assembly Member Dahle

February 3, 2015

An act to amend Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to highways.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 223, as introduced, Dahle. Highways: exit information signs.

Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses. Existing law generally prohibits the department from approving the placement of any sign within any urban area with a population of 5,000 or more. However existing law also requires the department, until January 1, 2021, to allow the placement of information signs along State Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Lincoln, and requires the department to report, by January 1, 2020, to the transportation committees of the Senate and Assembly on the implementation of this provision and on its recommendations as to whether the period of this authorization should be extended, and whether the authorization should be expanded to other urban areas.

This bill would additionally require the department, until January 1, 2021, to allow the placement of information signs along Interstate 80 within, or at exits leading to, the City of Truckee.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code
is amended to read:

101.7.  

(a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations
that allow the placement, near exits on freeways located in rural
areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses
offering fuel, food, lodging, camping services, approved 24-hour
pharmacy services, or approved attractions, and that prescribe the
standards for those signs.

(b) The department shall provide equal access to all business
applicants.

(c) (1) (A) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the department
shall not approve the placement of a sign within an urban area
designated by the United States Bureau of the Census as having a
population of 5,000 or more.

(B) The department may not remove an information sign that
was placed before January 1, 2003, due solely to population growth
in an urban area that results in a population of 5,000 or more but
less than 10,000.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the department, until
January 1, 2021, shall allow the placement of information signs
along State Highway Route 65 within, or at exits leading to, the
City of Lincoln begin insert and along Interstate 80 within, or at exits leading
to, the City of Truckee end insert .

(B) On or before January 1, 2020, the department shall report
to the transportation committees of the Senate and Assembly on
the implementation of this paragraph. The report shall describe
the implementation and any benefits of, or concerns regarding,
that implementation, and shall include recommendations as to
whether or not the period of this program should be extended and
whether or not the authorization for information signs under this
section should be expanded to urban areas having a population of
5,000 or more.

(d) The information signs authorized in this section may be
placed near the freeway exits in addition to, or in lieu of, other
highway signs of the department, but not in lieu of on-premises
or off-premises highway oriented business signs and directional
signs.

(e) The department shall establish and charge a fee to place and
maintain information signs in an amount not less than 25 percent
above its estimated cost in placing and maintaining the information
signs. The department shall annually review the amount of that
fee and revise it as necessary. Funds derived from the imposition
of the fee, after deduction of the cost to the department for the
placement and maintenance of the information signs, shall be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for safety roadside
rest purposes.

(f) The department shall incorporate the use of an “RV-friendly”
symbol on an information sign placed pursuant to this section for
a specific roadside business that meets criteria of the department
regarding sufficiency for recreational vehicles with respect to the
parking spaces and surfaces, vertical clearance, turning radius, and
entrances and exits of the facility. A specific roadside business
otherwise qualified for a sign pursuant to this section may qualify
for and request an “RV-friendly” symbol for that sign. The
department shall adopt rules and regulations for an “RV-friendly”
symbol consistent with this section as well as the Federal Highway
Administration’s Interim Approval for Addition of RV-friendly
Symbol to Specific Service Signs. The rules and regulations
adopted by the department shall include a provision for the roadside
business to acknowledge that overnight occupancy is not permitted
unless the roadside business is licensed as a special occupancy
park as defined in Section 18862.43 of the Health and Safety Code.
The department shall establish and charge an additional fee
pursuant to subdivision (e) to place and maintain the symbol.

(g) The department shall develop rules and regulations governing
signs for approved attractions, which shall include amusement
parks, botanical and zoological facilities, business districts and
main street communities, education centers, golf courses, historical
sites, museums, religious sites, resorts, ski areas, marinas, “u-pick”
farms and orchards, farmers’ markets, and wineries, viticulture
areas, and vineyards.